Should I start saving now?

[pauljmcnulty]

GT86

1180KG, 2.0 four-pot, front-engined RWD, near 50:50 weight balance, lower centre of gravity than a Cayman, nice small tyres, and c. £25K. In a couple of years that'll be £10K used, with legendary reliability from the Subaru oily bits.

It's designed to be highly modifiable for those who like that sort of thing, and there will be a lightened and supercharged version along soon.

Apart from the Porsche badge, this looks like spiritual successor to the early 944!

 

[peugeot]

Looks too much like a hyundai coupe ,
nice specs though !
Sorry Paul

 

[ukmastiff]

I got quite enthusiastic when I read your post , we need a few cars like that !

Then I clicked on the link and saw a ' Hyundai Coupe' staring at me , plus one as above I'm afraid.

 

[Copperman05]

If we're talking modern coupes I prefer the Nissan 350Z/370Z.


Edd

 

[Neil Haughey]

I have read a couple of reviews of the Toyobaru coupe, stood at the mags section in Tesco whilst Steph does the shopping. Its getting rave reviews for its handling and feel. You have to appluad them for being brave enough to bring a car like that to market rather than forever heavier and more powerful cars.

Shame its so ugly though but the basic spec is what I have been praying for someone to make for the past decade at least.

 

[944 man]

Performance boxer engines have been far from reliable Im afraid. Impreza 1800GLs may go on forever, but turbocharged Impreza owners dread the day that their big end goes, and they know its coming.....

 

[colin944]

Great idea neatly wrapped in a truely boring and bland body.Sorry not for me,where is the agressive styling and a bit of flair.

 

[robwright]

+1 for the Hyundai Coupe comments.

 

[944Turbo]

I think they will look better on the road than they do in isolation, they are only slightly bigger than an MX5 and I dont think the orange is the best choice, My brother had an AE86 corolla and if this is similar it should be a lot of fun.
Tony

 

[Neil Haughey]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo
My brother had an AE86 corolla and if this is similar it should be a lot of fun.
Tony

Bloke my brother used to work with Rally'ed one, full on proper rally car build. It used to spit flames out the exhaust and went like the proverbial. I regret not buying one when they were cheap but years ago they were popular for rallying and recently have been popular with the drifters.

 

[944Turbo]

He paid £850 for his and sold it for around £4k some years later, it then sold for 8k with a respray and new wings etc. about 12 months after that. It had a Janspeed manifold and exhuast and would also spit blue flames when warm and revved, same engine as a mk1 MR2. I remember being in the back in the rain and running about 300m sideways within the 30mph speed limit. Had a supsension refresh and slight lower but that is pretty much how they were - fun!
Tony

 

[Hilux]

with legendary reliability from the Subaru oily bits.

ORIGINAL: 944 man Performance boxer engines have been far from reliable Im afraid. Impreza 1800GLs may go on forever, but turbocharged Impreza owners dread the day that their big end goes, and they know its coming.....

You beat me to it.

They also have the longest timing belt in christendom with tensioners that grind to a halt.

Know owners past and present and the only other thing guranteed is the appalling fuel economy.

Been offered loads at no money - some real screamers with 1000`s spent and very impressive cars but I cant be *rsed.

Still, the spec on the Toyobaru looks good but...........................my eyes, my eyes [&:]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Hmmm, interesting comments. Personally I quite like the first Hy-and-dry coupe's looks, but I won't mention that here as so many of you obviously don't! I don't mind the GT's looks at all; I don't like modern car styling very often (modern Mercs and Audis particularly, and what are Ferrari doing with things like the frowny-faced FF?), but this is pretty inoffensive.

@ Simon, the Subaru Boxer engine is amazingly reliable unless you go to silly levels of tuning. This will be around 200 BHP, so it'll run for ever. The only issue is the lack of torque; a pain in our Legacy but less so in a little car like this. Try to double that power output and you'll have problems, especially if done by a bloke who wears fake-Burberry overalls and a lot of Argos gold jewellery. [:'(]

@ Edd, the 350Z did seem like a modern 944 on paper. I've not driven one, but the opinions seemed to be that it was too big and heavy, and quite agricultural. Our resident driving God Nick Fearn didn't rate his at all compared to the S2.

 

[TTM]

As the subject has derailed onto other japanese cars, what do you people think of the Mazda RX-7 ?
The rotary engine seems to be one of the most unreliable lump that has ever been made yet there seems to be a crowd convincingly keeping them alive.

I quite like this GT86 apart from rear quarterpanels. I'm yet to see one in the flesh though.

 

[Neil Haughey]

The 3rd model was very pretty but the engines just don't last and give appaling fuel economy. The RX8 seems more robust but alas has the worst fuel consumption on the planet. The problem with both is that the MX5 is both much cheaper to run, bullet proof and has near perfect handling.

I shouldn't advertise it on here but after owning a mk3 I have been very very tempted to sell up and get either a mk3 race car or a mk3 SC conversion for the road.

 

[Pastry]

prefer the subaru version for looks;

might be tempted in a few years time.

 

[944Scott]

The front wheel arches with their curve that is carried over into the bonnet remind me of the Mitsubishi FTO.

 

[Hairyarse]

ORIGINAL: Pastry

prefer the subaru version for looks;

might be tempted in a few years time.

That looks like a Hyundai Coupe rear with a Peugeot 407 Coupe front end stuck to it!

 

[Copperman05]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

@ Edd, the 350Z did seem like a modern 944 on paper. I've not driven one, but the opinions seemed to be that it was too big and heavy, and quite agricultural. Our resident driving God Nick Fearn didn't rate his at all compared to the S2.

Over a 944 I'll take the porker everytime! No comparison in my book...

Edd

 

[Lowtimer]

ORIGINAL: Neil Haughey
You have to applaud them for being brave enough to bring a car like that to market rather than forever heavier and more powerful cars.

Shame its so ugly though

I could not have put it better. Despite the questionable looks of both versions I might still have one as a daily driver in a couple of years' time. Everything else modern seems to be is a multi-ton lardmobile these days.